


Fadeaway

by aiwritingfic



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Confessions, Fluffy Ending, Graduation, High School, Love Confessions, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-25
Updated: 2014-04-07
Packaged: 2018-01-13 17:31:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1235029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aiwritingfic/pseuds/aiwritingfic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kasamatsu discovers how Kise really feels about him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [twisted_sheets](https://archiveofourown.org/users/twisted_sheets/gifts).



> Thank you, Mel, for the AWESOME prompt. First chapter written for [OTP Battle](http://basketballpoetsociety.tumblr.com/post/76397189020/challenge-59-fadeaway-kikasa); ending written by popular demand!

After the Winter Cup, the club mopes. Kise disappears from practice for a week. Kasamatsu sends messages, first asking, then demanding to know Kise's whereabouts. The questions pile up. Is Kise all right? Has he just been too busy with photoshoots to show up to practice? Is Kise's leg getting better? Is Kise overtraining at home instead of in club practice where he can be supervised? Has Kise succumbed to melancholia and quit basketball for all time because of his leg injury?

Kasamatsu finally stalks to the first-year classrooms, looking for Kise, finding Kise laughing and chatting inconsequentially with girls hanging on to his every word. Kise looks up at just the right time to see Kasamatsu; his expression falls, but Kasamatsu doesn't see any more, he's already walking back down the hallway, cursing stupid, ungrateful, _inconsiderate_ first-years in his head. Kasamatsu's phone vibrates; he doesn't check it. After it vibrates five more times, Kasamatsu turns it off and stuffs it in his bag.

Kise is waiting by the school gates that evening. Kasamatsu ignores him and walks past, eyes averted.

"Senpai, your phone, you turned it off and forgot to turn it on again," Kise says, falling in step beside Kasamatsu. 

Kasamatsu has forgotten. He fishes his phone out, turns it on again. It starts vibrating like crazy; Kise has sent twenty messages and called four times. "Geez," Kasamatsu says, glaring at the screen, then at Kise, before he remembers that he's mad at Kise and supposed to be ignoring him. He hardens his heart--it's easy, because Kasamatsu has had the latter half of the school day to work up a righteous amount of anger--and stalks away immediately.

Kise trails Kasamatsu, keeping pace. Kasamatsu knows he can out-sprint Kise, that his twitch movements are the fastest on Kaijou's roster, but Kasamatsu also knows Kise can keep pace with Kasamatsu in the long run and that it usually takes only about the equivalent of the length of a basketball court for Kise to catch up. "Leave me alone," Kasamatsu finally says over his shoulder.

"Not until you let me apologize," Kise says, reaching out to grab for Kasamatsu's sleeve. 

Kasamatsu dodges. "You don't deserve that," he says, setting a slightly faster pace. "Inconsiderate, stupid, no-good first-year aces and their idiotic, inconsiderate, stupid, worrisome actions."

"I'm sorry, senpai," Kise says, plaintively.

Kasamatsu ignores him, but then Kise runs in front of Kasamatsu and stands in front of him, arms outstretched, blocking the path. "Move aside," Kasamatsu orders.

Kise shakes his head. "I'm sorry I never answered your messages," he says.

"Not sorry enough to answer them before I worried myself sick about you," Kasamatsu says, glaring at Kise.

Kise's expression shifts from "earnestly facing senpai" to "what did senpai say" to "did I hear that right" to "did senpai really worry about me" to "oh shit no wonder senpai is so angry", and Kasamatsu doesn't even stop to wonder why he can tell every one of those apart. He's seen them all, is familiar with them all. 

That final thought, though, just makes Kasamatsu angrier. "You keep doing this," Kasamatsu says, the anger spilling out into words and bubbling out of him. He can't stop--these words must be said, will not be held back. "You smile and expect people to forgive small transgressions, you charm your way out of trouble, you act the fool and people laugh and forget what you've done to make them angry, and you just keep doing this. Think about how it feels from this side, in these shoes!"

"But I didn't know what to say, senpai," Kise says, arms dropping to his sides, eyes averted to the ground. "We lost because I didn't play, because I was stupid and hurt my leg and didn't say anything. I'm why you couldn't retire with the Winter Cup resting in our club room. I couldn't face you."

"You idiot," Kasamatsu says, and he can't stop his arm from reaching up, stretching, circling Kise's neck and pulling Kise's head down to where Kasamatsu can get at that head of blond hair and ruffle hard, not caring if Kise is wincing and going "Ow ow ow senpai that hurts ow ow ow" or if Kasamatsu and Kise's bags have fallen on the road or if Kise is just trying to keep his balance and not even fighting back. 

Kasamatsu finally lets go when he's satisfied at last. Kise has tears of pain in his eyes. Kasamatsu's arm and hand are a little sore; a pang goes through Kasamatsu's chest as he realizes that probably hurt Kise a lot. He watches Kise wince, running fingers through almost-irrevocably-tangled hair, and sighs. Kasamatsu picks up both their bags and says, "Follow me." He doesn't wait to see if Kise does, just walks down the road with the bags. 

When he turns into the neighborhood park, he catches a glimpse of Kise obediently trailing behind him, and something inside Kasamatsu relents and releases whatever remaining anger there was. "Sit," Kasamatsu says, pointing to the closest bench, dropping the bags down on a patch of grass nearby. "Face that way."

Kise gives Kasamatsu a wary look and then sits where Kasamatsu points, facing out as instructed. Kasamatsu takes hold of Kise's hands, still trying to detangle his hair, and says, "Let me." Kise's hands drop to Kise's lap, and Kasamatsu begins to work.

Even tangled like it is, Kise's hair is silky soft, not a surprise to Kasamatsu, who knows exactly how many bottles of various-scented shampoos and conditioners reside in Kise's locker. Kasamatsu lightly massages Kise's scalp through golden-blond hair, shaking the tangles loose gently. "Sorry," he says quietly.

Kise's response is a soft sigh. "I'm sorry too."

Kasamatsu keeps touching, stroking, and running his fingers through Kise's hair long after the worst of the tangles are gone, until finally he thinks he should stop before he does something he's going to regret, like kiss the top of Kise's head, or fall on his knees and wrap his arms around Kise and scream at Kise about how Kise needs to stop being an idiot and needs to start taking better care of himself because Kise makes Kasamatsu worry. The latter in particular is tempting. Kasamatsu pulls his comb out of his pocket and then pauses--Kasamatsu's comb is greasy with hair gel and he can't imagine polluting Kise's hair with it. He stuffs it back in his pocket. "Do you have a comb?" he asks.

Kise pulls a comb out of his pocket. "I also have a brush in my bag."

Of course Kise has a hairbrush in his bag, Kasamatsu thinks, taking the comb and running it gently through Kise's hair. He goes over Kise's head three times, slowly, meticulously, careful not to scrape Kise's scalp, and then finally, because he can't drag it on any longer, he returns the comb. 

Kise doesn't meet Kasamatsu's eyes when he takes the comb back, and instead shifts uncomfortably, looking down at the ground. "Thank you, senpai," Kise says, and he grabs his bag and drops it in his lap.

"Come on," Kasamatsu says, picking his bag up, patting Kise's shoulder. "We should go."

Kise is quiet, and then he says, "I... can't right now, senpai."

Kasamatsu drops his bag and sits on the bench next to Kise, eyes going to Kise's leg. "Does it hurt?"

"No, it's not that." Kise ducks his head further, turning away from Kasamatsu.

"Kise, look at me." 

The order brooks no disobedience. Kise slowly turns, reluctant, and faces Kasamatsu with the expression Kasamatsu has long ago identified as "What do I do?" Even in the fading light of late afternoon, Kasamatsu can see Kise's normally pale and carefully-protected-from-the-sun skin is flushed. "What's wrong?" Kasamatsu says, thinking "fever" and "he's not well after all" and "I was too harsh on him."

Kise flushes further, and Kasamatsu notes that Kise is breathing harder than someone who has been sitting on a bench for the last fifteen, twenty--he checks his watch and starts, it's been thirty minutes--has any reason to be. "Kise, what's wrong, are you sick?"

"Maybe," Kise says, and he looks away again. "Just leave me, senpai, I'll be okay soon."

"What kind of illness leaves you stuck on a bench and goes away with further sitting?" Kasamatsu says, taking Kise's arm, intending to help Kise up. "Come on, there's--"

"No," Kise says, trying to stop Kasamatsu. 

It's too late; Kise's bag falls off his lap, and Kasamatsu's eyes are drawn to the tell-tale bulge. Kise's eyes widen, and he grabs his bag again, dragging it back onto his lap as he scoots down the bench to the other end, as far from Kasamatsu as it is possible to be without getting up and walking away. 

The silence between them speaks volumes. Kasamatsu sits there, trying to process what he just saw. Kise stares fixedly at the ground a few meters in front of him. 

"Kise, I know what I just saw," Kasamatsu finally says. 

"It's nothing," Kise says, and he turns to Kasamatsu, a fixed smile on his face. "Nothing, really."

The metaphorical lightbulb comes on. "When I stroked your hair," Kasamatsu breathes.

Kise nods miserably, hunching down.

"Is that an erogenous zone for you or something?" Kasamatsu asks.

Kise's jaw drops for a moment, but then that fixed smile comes back. "Sure," Kise says. "It's... I'm tall, no one touches my hair."

Kasamatsu buys that for two seconds before he realizes what Kise's saying. "You get hard-ons when you go to photoshoots and they do your hair?"

"No, of course not!" Kise says, and then realizes he's just caught himself in a lie.

"Explain." Kasamatsu crosses his arms, prepared to sit there all night if he has to.

"I'd rather not," Kise says, giving Kasamatsu a helpless look. "Please, senpai."

Kasamatsu narrows his eyes. "You owe me an explanation. Consider it reparations for making me worry."

Kise drops his head and folds his hands over his head, a gesture reminiscent of the towel he drapes over his head during matches. "I can't. You're straight."

It doesn't take a telepath to divine the implications of that sentence. Kasamatsu's eyes widen just as Kise looks up. 

Kise hangs his head again. "I'm sorry. I didn't want you to know. I won't do anything, I won't say anything, I know you're straight and you like girls. Pretend like this never happened, senpai, _please_. I don't want this to change anything. _Please._ "

Kasamatsu can only nod dumbly. Kise stands--recovered, Kasamatsu can tell, even without the quick glance to Kise's crotch--and bows, then turns and runs. Kasamatsu stays on the bench and tries to process the bombshell that's just landed between him and his ace.


	2. Chapter 2

It finally occurs to Kasamatsu that he shouldn’t be sitting there in a daze and that he can't just let Kise go like that. He grabs his bag and runs after Kise, but when he turns the corner, Kise is nowhere to be seen. Kasamatsu stops to listen for Kise's footsteps, but all he hears is his own panting and the pounding of his head in time with his heart. Kise can't have gotten that far, Kasamatsu hasn't been in shock on the bench that long... right?

Perhaps he can try to catch Kise on the way to the train station, Kasamatsu thinks, but though he keeps an eye out and walks as quickly as he can, he doesn’t see any sign of Kise on the way. The station's somewhat crowded; Kise is tall, but Kasamatsu can't spot blond hair above the crowd anywhere. He checks the timetables; Kise's train hasn't come by in the last fifteen minutes, so he can't have gotten on a train and left already. 

Exasperated, Kasamatsu pulls out his phone and calls Kise. As he listens to the ringing tone, Kasamatsu hears his own ragged breathing and forces himself to breathe more slowly. He counts the electronic tones silently; Kise’s voicemail picks up on number seven. 

“Dammit,” Kasamatsu says, and then says to the recording, “Pick up, Kise, don’t avoid my calls.” He hangs up and then sends a message telling Kise to call him right now. He’s just sent the message when a couple of girls squeal nearby; Kasamatsu flinches at the volume and instinctively moves away, but they aren’t paying any attention to him. 

“Is he really there?” one says, excited, hopping from one leg to another and back again. 

“Yes,” the other says, grinning as she puts away her phone, the apparent source of the news. “Come on, it’s not often we get to talk to a model, and I hear Kise-kun is always friendly too!”

Kasamatsu follows them, because how many other people can there be in the area named Kise who are models and friendly, and who seem to have this irritating tendency to attract girls wherever they are? He tries not to be too obvious about it because he doesn’t want to seem like a weird stalker, but thankfully there are crowds of students everywhere. Years of playing point guard helps Kasamatsu keep an eye on the girls even in the crowd. He trails them to the local shopping area, and when Kasamatsu gets closer, he doesn’t need to see where the girls are; one cafe in particular has a line of chattering girls out the door and a few curious gawkers—also young and female—peering in the window. 

Why Kise would run to a cafe is beyond Kasamatsu, but that’s not important right now. Dealing with what happened at the park, however, is. However, getting into the cafe means getting past the throng of girls at the entrance, and Kasamatsu is not prepared to do that. He pulls his phone out again, notes that Kise hasn’t called or replied, and redials Kise’s number. It goes to voicemail, and this time Kasamatsu hangs up without leaving a message. 

It looks like there’s nothing for it—Kasamatsu will have to go in. He grits his teeth and spares a moment to wonder why he is doing this when it isn’t even certain that Kise is in there, and then sighs, squares his shoulders, and walks stiffly towards the crowd of girls. “Excuse me,” he mutters, trying not to touch them as he attempts to move towards the front of the line.

“Hey, you can’t do that, there’s a line!” one of the girls says, grabbing Kasamatsu’s arm boldly. 

Kasamatsu shakes himself loose frantically and backs up, but then realizes there are girls behind him too and he’s surrounded by girls and oh god this is too much what on earth was he thinking? “I—I’m meeting a friend, he’s already inside,” Kasamatsu says quickly. 

“Oh, me too!” says a girl further back in the line, and another says, “Wait, I’m meeting someone too, let me get to the front!” 

Angry muttering spreads, and Kasamatsu tries not to recoil too obviously as several girls glance his way in a rather-unfriendly manner that scares Kasamatsu even more than girls flirting with him do. This is a worst-case scenario Kasamatsu should have anticipated in hindsight, and he frantically casts about in his mind for a way out, trying not to panic. He is taller than most of the girls, but they are everywhere, and if he pushes past them maybe he can make a run for it, but what if he accidentally pushes too hard and hurts someone when they fall? Besides, Kise is still in there, and the whole point of all this was to find Kise and talk to him before things festered, but if he can’t even get in, then—

“Kasamatsu-senpai?” 

Kasamatsu looks up to see Kise standing right inside the cafe doors. “Kise,” he says, somewhat stupidly.

The look of surprise on Kise’s face is quickly replaced with a beaming smile. Kise turns towards the girls and sparkles—Kasamatsu doesn’t think there is another word that can adequately describe what Kise does when he’s with his fans—in their direction. Kise says, “I’m so sorry, I’ve been waiting for senpai, but I didn’t know this cafe was going to be so crowded! I’ll be out in a moment.” 

How easily that lie slips from those lips, Kasamatsu thinks, but he can’t say anything right now in front of all these other people, and besides, Kise has just saved Kasamatsu from a mortifying charge of queue-jumping. “I—it’s okay, you seem busy,” Kasamatsu says, waving vaguely at the line. “We can catch up some other time.”

“No, senpai, it’s fine, wait a moment, I’m going to get my bag,” Kise says, and back he disappears into the cafe before Kasamatsu can tell him to stay. 

Kasamatsu curses himself silently as he scowls at the cafe, then directs his fiercest scowl at the girls hovering around him who have suddenly taken an interest because their idol has vouched for him. Kise seems all right, after all. Kasamatsu needn’t have worried or put himself in this situation for Kise if Kise was well enough to hang out and schmooze with his fans in a place like this. Stupid first-year, for causing Kasamatsu so much worry, and stupid fangirls fluttering all around Kise, but far stupider Kasamatsu, for worrying about someone who can so obviously take care of himself and who doesn’t actually need his senpai hovering over him. He backs away as much as possible, scowling at girls who look at him with interest, and squeezes his way through to the street. He crosses to the other side where it’s less crowded, and then waits. There’s no point in walking off if Kise is coming out. 

Kise appears at the doorway again and the fangirls crowd around him. Kise signs whatever is thrust at him, but is looking around hastily. Kasamatsu sighs and takes pity on Kise, waving at him from across the street. Kise beams, makes a gesture that clearly conveys “please wait senpai I will be RIGHT THERE” and then edges through the crowd. Kasamatsu watches the self-extraction with a scowl but stays where he is for now.

Finally Kise makes it to Kasamatsu after what seems to Kasamatsu an interminably long and slow fan session. “Thank you for waiting! You came for me, didn’t you, senpai,” Kise says, his expression saying “I can’t believe you waited” even as he beams from ear to ear. 

Kasamatsu scowls. “You didn’t have to leave. I was just passing by.” He turns and walks away from the shopping area towards the train station. 

Kise falls into step beside him. “I’m sorry, senpai, I got waylaid by some fans, and they wanted to chat and have a coffee, and I didn’t think anyone would care if I did or not,” he says.

“Who cares what you do with your time?” Kasamatsu says, giving Kise an angry glance. “Certainly not me.”

“But,” Kise says, looking confused. “When I saw you outside, I thought senpai had come looking for me.”

“I told you,” Kasamatsu says, quickening his step. “I was just passing by.” 

“Passing by on your way where?”

“To the station, of course, you dumbass. It’s after school, it’s time to go home.”

“The shopping area isn't on the way,” Kise points out with a grin.

They’ve walked far enough now that no one else is around, and Kasamatsu has had it with this first-year of his. “Just shut up,” Kasamatsu says, stopping and rounding on Kise, punching Kise’s shoulder. “It’s all your fault! Why do I even put up with you, you no-good first-year?”

“Please don’t hit me, senpai,” Kise says, rubbing his shoulder. 

Kasamatsu punches Kise’s shoulder again, harder. “First you make me worry about you, and then I find that there was no reason for me to worry at all! You bubble-headed idiot, what do you expect when you confess to someone and then run away like that? Of course I came looking for you, but clearly I shouldn’t have bothered! What’s wrong with you?”

Kise stops mid-dodge. “You… were worried?”

“Of course!” Kasamatsu rolls his eyes at the obliviousness Kise manages to demonstrate time and time again. 

“Why, senpai? I mean, you just found out I liked you one-sidedly... normally, people avoid thinking about unwelcome attention like that… don’t they?”

Kise’s eyes are so full of hope that Kasamatsu can’t even glare at Kise. Kasamatsu turns away without answering the question, walking towards the station again. 

Kise chases after him. “Senpai, _please_ , I don’t understand, just tell me directly what you’re thinking,” he says pleadingly. “What are you thinking, senpai?” 

“Dammit, Kise,” Kasamatsu says, deviating from his path to walk down a quiet side street so they can talk without passers-by overhearing. Wonder of wonders, Kise follows him without pestering him, and Kasamatsu finally stops walking and turns back to Kise. “I’m graduating high school and going to university,” Kasamatsu says. “I’ll be busy with school and my new team, and you’ll be busy here with school and your team. You’re way underage. What do you want? It’s hard enough when it’s a guy and a girl—isn’t it worse when it’s two guys?”

Kise’s expression changes from “I don’t get it” to “wait, what” to “did I just hear that right” and then suddenly Kise is hugging Kasamatsu tightly and jumping up and down and Kasamatsu can’t keep his balance against the unexpected onslaught of blond happiness. They land on the ground in a heap and Kasamatsu pushes Kise off with a scowl. “Stop that, we’re in public, that’s unsightly!” he shouts.

“We can hang out and just do things like we always do, nothing has to change.” Kise is babbling. “I just want to spend time with you. I can do homework in a cafe with you, or we can do practice matches or one-on-ones, or we can go shopping on the weekends, stuff we already do, oh senpai please just say you won’t forget me when you graduate!”

“Geez,” Kasamatsu says, struggling to push Kise off him, because even though they’re on a side street, people still live in this area, and it’s not like they're invisible from the main road. Was that really all it took? That’s all Kise wanted? “All right, all right, just get off me already!”

“I’m sorry, senpai,” Kise says, but that huge smile on Kise’s face doesn’t look the slightest bit sorry at all. Kise pushes himself up quickly and then reaches down to pull Kasamatsu up. “It’s just, I’m so happy right now,” Kise continues, smiling so widely his eyes are lost in the sea of sunshine on his face. 

Kasamatsu scowls at Kise. “That’s all you wanted? Hanging out, doing stuff together? We would have done that anyway, wouldn’t we?”

“I didn’t think you’d want to hang out with me after you graduated,” Kise says. “I mean, you’re going to be busy with school and all that, like you said. I just want to spend time with senpai. It doesn’t matter if you’re straight, or if you get a girlfriend, or anything. Just keep spending time with me.”

“Who’d be able to get a girlfriend with you hanging around all the time?” Kasamatsu grumbles. “You’d attract them all away.”

“Then use me as a filter for girlfriend material,” Kise says. “The ones who go after me aren’t worth your time. The ones who don’t even notice me because they see you, though…”

“You’re an idiot,” Kasamatsu says, but he feels a knot inside him loosen. He reaches up and ruffles Kise’s hair. “Why would I want a girlfriend? Isn’t having you following me around all the time quite enough trouble for one person?”

Kise freezes, and then grabs the hand Kasamatsu is using to ruffle Kise’s hair. “Senpai, did you... just…”

"Yeah, I did." Kasamatsu sighs heavily. “God help me, you’re an idiot, and so am I.”

Kise squeezes Kasamatsu’s hand, and then lets go. “Kasamatsu-senpai’s not an idiot,” Kise says, managing to grin even wider. “Even if he needs some help sometimes.” 

Kasamatsu pauses as that sinks in. “You brat, you’re the one who had that accident in the park!” he says, smirking at Kise. “Were you going to say something if that hadn’t… come up?”

Kise flushes red at that, looking down at his feet. “Well… maybe after university, if you were still single then,” he says. 

Kasamatsu chuckles and feels much better. “Come on, it’s later than it should be. Time to head back and study. Just because it’s the end of the school year, doesn’t mean you can slack off.” 

“Tutor me, senpai,” Kise says with a grin. “Maybe with your help I can get into the same university you’re going to. Don’t you want me on your basketball team?”

Kasamatsu pauses. Kise, playing basketball at the university level, and the possibility of two whole years of being on the same team together… “We’ll see,” he finally says. “You’re going to have to do a _lot_ better than you’re doing now if you want to get into the universities I’m aiming for. I don’t know if I can help you _that_ much.”

Kise winces, but looks like he’s ready to take on the challenge. “We don’t know until I try,” he says.

Kasamatsu laughs. “Well, that’s true. All right. Get permission from your parents and we can start tonight.”

“You’re the best, senpai,” Kise says happily, fishing his phone out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy KiKasa Day, everyone. <3


End file.
